December 30, 2011

Dragon Nest Mercenary Heraldry Plates Guide

In Dragon Nest, apart from the class skills, a player also has to consider the kind of Heraldry plates that he will use. Heraldries are special plates with endowed stats that help boost your character’s performance in PvE and/or PvP. They have a range of enhancements from class skill boost, status boosts, and special skills.

the heraldry set is pretty organized and is broken up by type and
level. Level in this case does not refer to the level of the heraldry
plate but instead your level.

A Dragon Nest Character has Heraldry slots. Each slot, at the beginning of the game is locked, and while
leveling up, each slot will slowly unlock.
Refer to the picture for the exact level needed to unlock that particular heraldry slot.

As each slot unlocks, you are allowed to put heraldry in that slot.

Heraldry can be found in dungeon instances, Dark Lair, or other users.
Each Heraldry Plate is locked and untradeable until unlocked and gives
the choice between two effects when unlocking it except Special
Heraldry. Special Heraldry only gives one effect.Since I am not fond of PVP, it is only natural that I get plates that would be helpful in PVE, namely in dungeons and nests (Manticore is still the bane of my Dragon Nest life).

Firstly, let’s talk about Stats-based Heraldry. The most important few plates would be

Fatal - Increases your Critical Chance by a certain
amount. I believe all attack classes will use this plate as one of
their 8 choices. Critical ignores defense, so that is what makes
Critical so important.

Energy – Increases MP regeneration. There are times
when I often run out of MP after spamming my skills through dungeons.
This plate helps me to continue attacking without worrying.

Ultimate – Increases your Final Damage Stat by a
certain amount. This is to help increase your DPS. To determine whether
you think the bonus is helpful or not.

Magic Defense – At higher levels in PvE, most of the damage that you
will get hit with is magic. You will be able to dodge physical damage
skills relatively easy. So this crest can be helpful for you given the
fact that Mercenaries have many defensive skills as well.

When you are really rich, try to get yourself a 3-stat Heraldry
Plate. If you have ever gotten one in CBT, you would have seen a Stat
Heraldry giving you a random additional stat in it. When a good
additional stat is imbued within a good Heraldry Plate, it would usually
cost a bomb. Either use it, or sell it for gold! Use those with
critical stat in it.

If you are not familiar with Mercenaries skills yet, I suggest you read this Mercenary Skill Guide first. As for Skill Plates, they are

Taunting Howl – Pick the debuff time extension choice. This is more for Support-based Mercenaries.

Battle Howl - Pick the buff time extension choice. This is more for Support-based Mercenaries.

Panic Howl – Pick the buff time extension choice. This is more for Support-based Mercenaries.

Iron Skin – Pick the buff time extension choice. This is for those who want better defensive abilities.

Whirlwind/Rolling Attack – Pick the damage increase choice.
These two skills have very high damage. Use both of them to increase
your DPS. But do remember that both skills have long cooldown. Perhaps a
damage crest on another skill can be more helpful in more DPS?

Side Kick – Pick the action speed increase choice. This is more on Mercenaries who prioritise PvP.

Bone Crash – Pick the debuff time extension choice. The debuff benefits your party to increase the overall DPS greatly. Having this plate is very useful also.

Anything that benefits your team is a must, in my opinion. But generally buffing your whole team/protecting your whole team is way more important than something like Flying Swing Damage. You want to make sure your casters will take minimum damage and your party deals optimal damage.

Heraldries, to be clear, cannot stack. There are key names that
heraldries have that may be
different grades or levels. Even if you find them at different grades
or levels, you cannot use the same type at all. That's why when making a
heraldry set, be sure to have the highest grade and level of whatever
type of heraldry you want and pick out of the many types which ones you
prefer.